Councils have rejected union proposals for a national register of violent incidents involving those in social care jobs.

Unison, Aspect and the British Association of Social Workers have called for more funding and national monitoring to address reports of violence and threats against practitioners. Unlike the healthcare sector or other public roles, there are no national or regional statistics on the number of attacks on, or threats to people in social care jobs, despite the daily risks of the profession.

Whilst any qualified social worker will be prepared for possible adversity, unions argue that better planning is needed to help reduce risk. Roger Kline, the social care spokesperson for Aspect, said a national register would provide research data to allow the sector to identify common high risk situations.

However, the Association of Local Government Employers (LGE), which represents 375 councils throughout England and Wales, has rejected the proposal. They believe that differences in the way different local authorities record information pose a major obstacle to a national register.

Steve Sumner, national health and safety policy adviser for the LGE, said "Collecting national data is not the solution to the problem - the solution is local authorities responding to the risks in their local areas and putting proper interventions in place.'' He added that councils already had access to "very good guidance" and that high-quality risk assessments were key, citing the updated guidelines from Skills for Care as an example.

Social care labour representatives were disappointed by the LGE's response. Ruth Cartwright, professional officer for England at BASW, acknowledged that "there are difficulties with doing this [register], but that is not a reason to dismiss the possibility when such a serious problem is being discussed."

"The act of having to report will keep employer's mind focused on this issue in a helpful way" she explained.